State reform in Belgium

State reform, in the context of Belgium, is the ongoing process of seeking and finding constitutional and legal solutions to the problems and tensions in the different segments of the Belgian population, mostly between the Dutch-speakers of Flanders and the French-speakers of Wallonia.

That resulted in extensive language legislation but did not solve the conflicts between Flanders and Wallonia, the two main regions of the country.

The Royal Question was whether he should be allowed to return to the throne, in view of his position during World War II.

Following his restoration, anger among Leopold's opponents in Wallonia and Brussels grew into rioting that the government had struggled to contain.

The tensions caused the collapse of the government of Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants; the university was split into the Dutch-speaking Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the French-speaking Université catholique de Louvain, united within a common governing body.

The constitutional revision of 1970 also laid the foundations for the establishment of three Regions, which was a response to the demand of the Walloons and the French-speaking inhabitants of Brussels for economic autonomy.

On 18 February 1970 Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens announced the end of "La Belgique de papa".

[3] The fourth state reform is called the "Sint-Michiels agreement" and took place in 1993 under Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene.

[3] The first article of the Belgian Constitution was amended to read as follows, “Belgium is a Federal State which consists of communities and regions”.

During the fifth state reform, more powers were transferred to the Communities and the Regions, with regard to agriculture, fisheries, foreign trade, development cooperation, auditing of electoral expenses and the supplementary financing of the political parties.